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The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Adaptation
Nicki Greenberg's graphic adaptation of The Great Gatsby brings to life the grand and crumpled dreams of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unforgettable characters. In the exquisitely realised setting of 1920s New York, a throng of fantastical creatures play out the drama, the wry humour and the tragedy of the novel.
316 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
372 people want to read
About the author
Nicki Greenberg
30 books15 followersNicki Greenberg is a writer and illustrator with a special interest in sequential art narrative - a fancy way of describing comics.
Nicki's first books, The Digits series, were published when she was fifteen years old, and sold more than 380,000 copies. Since then, she has devoted most of her ink to comics, but has also written and illustrated fiction and non-fiction books for children.
At seventeen, Nicki fell in love with The Great Gatsby. Almost ten years later, she set out to pay tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel by interpreting it in comic art form. It took more than six years to complete this enormous labour of love.
This mad undertaking was followed by three years' passionate work on Shakespeare's Hamlet, which was finally staged on the page in 2010.
Nicki lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family, their poodle and two bad cats. In her spare time she works as a lawyer.
Nicki's first books, The Digits series, were published when she was fifteen years old, and sold more than 380,000 copies. Since then, she has devoted most of her ink to comics, but has also written and illustrated fiction and non-fiction books for children.
At seventeen, Nicki fell in love with The Great Gatsby. Almost ten years later, she set out to pay tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel by interpreting it in comic art form. It took more than six years to complete this enormous labour of love.
This mad undertaking was followed by three years' passionate work on Shakespeare's Hamlet, which was finally staged on the page in 2010.
Nicki lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family, their poodle and two bad cats. In her spare time she works as a lawyer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
July 23, 2014
Liked it, the main characters arcs and personalities were captured surprisingly well… At times it felt like I was reading the actual book. I had mixed feelings when it came to the artwork — the drawings were done well (some were very, very funny) but the lack of colour made everything seem dull, the panels ended up looking quite similar to one another which made it all rather monotonous.
I loved how Tom, Daisy and their daughter were drawn, just the look of them made me laugh out loud a few times.
Overall, this was a fairly entertaining graphic adaptation of The Great Gatsby… I wouldn't mind reading other classics interpreted in a graphic novel and more humorous form.
I loved how Tom, Daisy and their daughter were drawn, just the look of them made me laugh out loud a few times.
Overall, this was a fairly entertaining graphic adaptation of The Great Gatsby… I wouldn't mind reading other classics interpreted in a graphic novel and more humorous form.
April 13, 2018
For something that was an adaptation of a classic, this was one of the most unique things I have read. The fact that it captured the heart of the original with its own style left me amazed at just how well it translated to page.
The art style and layout even fitted the story quite well with the photo album layout and sepia tone photos (though will state the sepia tone needed to be a bit more brighter)
The art style and layout even fitted the story quite well with the photo album layout and sepia tone photos (though will state the sepia tone needed to be a bit more brighter)
July 4, 2023
The Great Gatsby is one of my all-time favorite novels. But to me, it is such a novel that it resists translation into other mediums. Certainly no film version has yet done justice to the story, and graphic novel adaptations, though interesting, often lose the verbal magic of Fitzgerald’s original.
This graphic novel adaptation, however, comes the closest to conveying the outlandish, electric tone of the original novel. Greenberg chooses to illustrate the entire novel as though it’s Nick putting together a scrapbook of photos. I like that this affirms the original book’s frame of Nick typing up the story in words. In this version, his memory is images more than words, and we get to see moments when he is so overcome by the memories that he has torn the photos—sometimes later mended, sometimes not. The density of photos on each page gives some indication of the frenzied pace or the ennui in Nick’s memory of the events being scrapbooked. I suspect a closer reading would also reveal interesting details about who appears in the photos, relative to what was happening in the scene. What was it that caught Nick’s eye, regardless of what seems to the reader to be the most significant view of each scene?
The other aspect of this adaptation that I love is Greenberg’s choice to illustrate in a bizarre, surreal style. The characters are not humans; instead, they are all manner of real and fantastical creatures. Gatsby is a seahorse (or is he something else, wearing a seahorse disguise?), Nick is a slug, Tom is an ogre, Daisy is a dandelion puff. (And I’m not completely certain of any of these identifications, which shows how very odd the visuals are.) This style brings out the absurdity of certain moments in the story, but it also frees the reader from the distraction of real-life visuals and instead turns the focus back to the words. And this adaptation makes great use of a large amount of Fitzgerald’s original text. I don’t think this adaptation would be for everyone (and even for me, the sepia-toned photographs became sometimes monotonous—well, literally, of course, but also in my perception—and I would have recommended occasional shifts to other vintage styles, for variety), but I felt that it conveyed more of the richness of Fitzgerald’s novel than literary graphic novel adaptations often do. This is the one I would return to again if I want to quickly revisit The Great Gatsby—though of course there’s no substitute for the real novel.
This graphic novel adaptation, however, comes the closest to conveying the outlandish, electric tone of the original novel. Greenberg chooses to illustrate the entire novel as though it’s Nick putting together a scrapbook of photos. I like that this affirms the original book’s frame of Nick typing up the story in words. In this version, his memory is images more than words, and we get to see moments when he is so overcome by the memories that he has torn the photos—sometimes later mended, sometimes not. The density of photos on each page gives some indication of the frenzied pace or the ennui in Nick’s memory of the events being scrapbooked. I suspect a closer reading would also reveal interesting details about who appears in the photos, relative to what was happening in the scene. What was it that caught Nick’s eye, regardless of what seems to the reader to be the most significant view of each scene?
The other aspect of this adaptation that I love is Greenberg’s choice to illustrate in a bizarre, surreal style. The characters are not humans; instead, they are all manner of real and fantastical creatures. Gatsby is a seahorse (or is he something else, wearing a seahorse disguise?), Nick is a slug, Tom is an ogre, Daisy is a dandelion puff. (And I’m not completely certain of any of these identifications, which shows how very odd the visuals are.) This style brings out the absurdity of certain moments in the story, but it also frees the reader from the distraction of real-life visuals and instead turns the focus back to the words. And this adaptation makes great use of a large amount of Fitzgerald’s original text. I don’t think this adaptation would be for everyone (and even for me, the sepia-toned photographs became sometimes monotonous—well, literally, of course, but also in my perception—and I would have recommended occasional shifts to other vintage styles, for variety), but I felt that it conveyed more of the richness of Fitzgerald’s novel than literary graphic novel adaptations often do. This is the one I would return to again if I want to quickly revisit The Great Gatsby—though of course there’s no substitute for the real novel.
October 21, 2016
A brilliant presentation of Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, through a different medium accompanied by an abridged, but unaltered, version of the original text.
The artwork is quite bizarre, and yet somehow seems to blend perfectly with the story and its setting. The essence of the characters shines in a way that is very different to the medium of text or even film, only because Nicki Greenberg did an amazing job at it.
If you are a fan of the original, this will only enrich your affection for the masterpiece that is The Great Gatsby.
The artwork is quite bizarre, and yet somehow seems to blend perfectly with the story and its setting. The essence of the characters shines in a way that is very different to the medium of text or even film, only because Nicki Greenberg did an amazing job at it.
If you are a fan of the original, this will only enrich your affection for the masterpiece that is The Great Gatsby.
February 27, 2013
I've rated this with allowance for the medium, in which I think Greenberg's fantastical character renditions in sepia lovingly and very accurately capture and hold together F Scott Fitzgerald's personal, dramatic vision of an era's dreams in slow, sunset-like demise.
Of the original novel (to which this adaptation is remarkably faithful), I can only say that while the understated vigour and inventiveness of the language are commendable (but on the whole it felt 'overripe' by turns), it had limited appeal to me. I've often wondered why this ambivalence should be when it passes as a matter of course that the novel is most everywhere well-loved. A fuzzy kind of answer may be that Fitzgerald, for all the smooth, measured reminiscences and musings he presents through the narrator, doesn't set up enough support for the broad, timeless parable he seems to be aiming for. Make no mistake, the message is strong and clear, but the narrator's isolation may well too soon delimit its scope and trap all those profundity-destined reflections in nothing more than a glamorous historical episode (the graphic novel offers a mixed solution here- the tones and imagery, particularly in the Valley of Ashes scenes, heighten the symbolic tensions, but the narrator, Nick, is even more a dazed observer for the greater part).
Much depends, I think, on your impression of Nick Carraway, and through his eyes, Gatsby (and the others)- how flawed you think them. A give away of sorts is at the end, in Nick's parting exchange with Jordan.
The novel is still enjoyable either way, if more self-absorbed (being too flighty and graceful to really be brooding) than may be desirable (in the interests of irony) if you opt for the reading that The Great Gatsby is a simple condemnation of emerging decadence.
If anything, the lyrical quality of the prose exacerbates this issue. While at a glance without fault, it is entirely too slick and easy-flowing almost in the way of romantic poetry to separate the broader, more essential imagery from Nick's earnest graspings without close inspection.
This may be why the novel had almost passed out of the public consciousness entirely before a revival occurred. While much critical material is available today which remedies a naive reading, I nevertheless consider this unrelieved subjectivity to be a flaw.
To compare, Le Grand Meaulnes has better unity, and a charming vitality which for me distracted from any limitation of the narrator, and which now sets it above the present work. Fitzgerald's aim diverges from Alain-Fournier's in definite respects of course, but here the result is for Gatsby to limit itself.
By chance I read this while going through Charles Baudelaire's collection, Les Fleurs du mal, which also confronts similar themes as The Great Gatsby, but whose voice (poetic though it may be) possesses a keener Modernist self-awareness (not trying to forcibly distance itself from proceedings as Nick's does- allowing the reader an outlet which relieves tensions which need linger longer), and so more successfully relays its potent symbolism (a similar distinction may be drawn with T S Eliot's The Waste Land).
For the slow crumbling end of Gatsby's dream amid quick blowing material judgements he at one times courts but then is stung by, and the optometrist billboard (which reminded me of nothing so much as the Eye of Sauron here) which epitomises the discomfiture and scrutiny the values of a past age (to which Gatsby, for all his invention and shady affairs, belongs) subjects the traveller to- among other things, the art helpfully overlays Nick's narration. In this sense, the adaptation succeeds on an important level- that is, using the added visual layer to good effect in bringing out the novel's symbolic character without sacrificing Nick's involved ruminations or needlessly elaborating on the tight, dramatic plot progression.
On to the characters, these are weak, often vain individuals the story concerns; whether like Daisy (and even Tom and Myrtle) aware of their shortcomings but expecting the right to defer resolutions, or whether world-weary but slow to realise it and extricate himself like Nick (and to a lesser, unrealised extent- Gatsby), or simply sighing breezily through the decadence in self-imposed numbness as Jordan does (whose expression the artist maintains perfectly through the comic). They are superficial because there is the hope that thin character will carry forward on the wind and bustle like a kite, while some notion of true, private self might lumber below on the ground to catch up. Their gaudy and perhaps anonymous revels, for instance at Gatsby's parties, are at once a break from and a surrender to the everyday shifting artifice of their new ground and sky swallowing domain, which seems for the moment vast enough to accommodate their every ill-advised dream as never before.
The odd creature interpretations heighten individual characteristics in the comic, but this overall ghostly paleness to the characters isn't always best conveyed in the art (unless the wash of sepia counts). But then, Fitzgerald's words are there quite often enough for the balance. Perhaps a balance is the best way to describe this book. A different one sometimes to Fitzgerald's original, but done with care and attention enough that reading it may enhance the memory of the novel and cause the reader to revisit it after with similar, possibly better, vigilance.
Of the original novel (to which this adaptation is remarkably faithful), I can only say that while the understated vigour and inventiveness of the language are commendable (but on the whole it felt 'overripe' by turns), it had limited appeal to me. I've often wondered why this ambivalence should be when it passes as a matter of course that the novel is most everywhere well-loved. A fuzzy kind of answer may be that Fitzgerald, for all the smooth, measured reminiscences and musings he presents through the narrator, doesn't set up enough support for the broad, timeless parable he seems to be aiming for. Make no mistake, the message is strong and clear, but the narrator's isolation may well too soon delimit its scope and trap all those profundity-destined reflections in nothing more than a glamorous historical episode (the graphic novel offers a mixed solution here- the tones and imagery, particularly in the Valley of Ashes scenes, heighten the symbolic tensions, but the narrator, Nick, is even more a dazed observer for the greater part).
Much depends, I think, on your impression of Nick Carraway, and through his eyes, Gatsby (and the others)- how flawed you think them. A give away of sorts is at the end, in Nick's parting exchange with Jordan.
The novel is still enjoyable either way, if more self-absorbed (being too flighty and graceful to really be brooding) than may be desirable (in the interests of irony) if you opt for the reading that The Great Gatsby is a simple condemnation of emerging decadence.
If anything, the lyrical quality of the prose exacerbates this issue. While at a glance without fault, it is entirely too slick and easy-flowing almost in the way of romantic poetry to separate the broader, more essential imagery from Nick's earnest graspings without close inspection.
This may be why the novel had almost passed out of the public consciousness entirely before a revival occurred. While much critical material is available today which remedies a naive reading, I nevertheless consider this unrelieved subjectivity to be a flaw.
To compare, Le Grand Meaulnes has better unity, and a charming vitality which for me distracted from any limitation of the narrator, and which now sets it above the present work. Fitzgerald's aim diverges from Alain-Fournier's in definite respects of course, but here the result is for Gatsby to limit itself.
By chance I read this while going through Charles Baudelaire's collection, Les Fleurs du mal, which also confronts similar themes as The Great Gatsby, but whose voice (poetic though it may be) possesses a keener Modernist self-awareness (not trying to forcibly distance itself from proceedings as Nick's does- allowing the reader an outlet which relieves tensions which need linger longer), and so more successfully relays its potent symbolism (a similar distinction may be drawn with T S Eliot's The Waste Land).
For the slow crumbling end of Gatsby's dream amid quick blowing material judgements he at one times courts but then is stung by, and the optometrist billboard (which reminded me of nothing so much as the Eye of Sauron here) which epitomises the discomfiture and scrutiny the values of a past age (to which Gatsby, for all his invention and shady affairs, belongs) subjects the traveller to- among other things, the art helpfully overlays Nick's narration. In this sense, the adaptation succeeds on an important level- that is, using the added visual layer to good effect in bringing out the novel's symbolic character without sacrificing Nick's involved ruminations or needlessly elaborating on the tight, dramatic plot progression.
On to the characters, these are weak, often vain individuals the story concerns; whether like Daisy (and even Tom and Myrtle) aware of their shortcomings but expecting the right to defer resolutions, or whether world-weary but slow to realise it and extricate himself like Nick (and to a lesser, unrealised extent- Gatsby), or simply sighing breezily through the decadence in self-imposed numbness as Jordan does (whose expression the artist maintains perfectly through the comic). They are superficial because there is the hope that thin character will carry forward on the wind and bustle like a kite, while some notion of true, private self might lumber below on the ground to catch up. Their gaudy and perhaps anonymous revels, for instance at Gatsby's parties, are at once a break from and a surrender to the everyday shifting artifice of their new ground and sky swallowing domain, which seems for the moment vast enough to accommodate their every ill-advised dream as never before.
The odd creature interpretations heighten individual characteristics in the comic, but this overall ghostly paleness to the characters isn't always best conveyed in the art (unless the wash of sepia counts). But then, Fitzgerald's words are there quite often enough for the balance. Perhaps a balance is the best way to describe this book. A different one sometimes to Fitzgerald's original, but done with care and attention enough that reading it may enhance the memory of the novel and cause the reader to revisit it after with similar, possibly better, vigilance.
March 11, 2014
If you are not a comic book writer or illustrator I’d suggest attending talks where these folk (sometimes one and the same person) talk about their process. In my case it has highlighted some of the ingenuity that my eyes have taken for granted. I always find that in reading a comic or graphic novel that I am missing, at least consciously, some of the artistry that exists in the image work.
I had the great pleasure of listening to Nicki Greenberg talk about the process of adapting works to the visual form. It was literally eye opening, hearing her talk about choices, obstacles and opportunities for conveying information in the comic/visual genre.
Nicki is quite famous for having sold her first The Digits series, while still in high school. The Great Gatsby adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic was her labour of love begun and finished before she knew if it was available from a copyright standpoint( it was in Australia and New Zealand).
Thankfully during the 6 years it took to create, the image (if you’ll excuse the pun) of comics or graphic novels improved and Allen & Unwin stepped in to publish it.
It’s 300 pages in length and slightly squat in its finished form. The form is deliberate ( something I would not have noticed before) in that it is designed to mimic the dimensions of a photo album. Each of the panels is bordered in photo edging and the entire book is done in sepia. Nick Carraway our narrator is piecing together the events covered in the novel by way of constructing a photo album.
There’s some interesting effects that occur here, the reader is watching Carraway as he constructs the very book they are reading/viewing.
Greenberg has a reputation for drawing interesting non-human depictions of characters and this is evident in the creation of a host of different creatures for the main characters in the book. Nick Carraway is an unassuming slug, Daisy is a puff headed fluff ball, Gatsby a seahorse, Tom Buchannan a brutish ogre and Jordan Baker a squid, to name a few. It’s interesting to map these depictions to certain character traits.
I haven’t read the original, but I do feel as though Greenberg has captured the era, and the zeitgeist well. The outrageously rich, the parties, the veneer and the shallowness. I am now curious to read F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I think The Great Gatsby would work as an excellent gateway into appreciating what can and is being done with graphic novels. I think fans or the original text will enjoy the visual interpretation and indeed will probably glean more from the adaptation than I would.
Clever and slightly bizarre, it fits the period well and was a pleasure to read.
I had the great pleasure of listening to Nicki Greenberg talk about the process of adapting works to the visual form. It was literally eye opening, hearing her talk about choices, obstacles and opportunities for conveying information in the comic/visual genre.
Nicki is quite famous for having sold her first The Digits series, while still in high school. The Great Gatsby adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic was her labour of love begun and finished before she knew if it was available from a copyright standpoint( it was in Australia and New Zealand).
Thankfully during the 6 years it took to create, the image (if you’ll excuse the pun) of comics or graphic novels improved and Allen & Unwin stepped in to publish it.
It’s 300 pages in length and slightly squat in its finished form. The form is deliberate ( something I would not have noticed before) in that it is designed to mimic the dimensions of a photo album. Each of the panels is bordered in photo edging and the entire book is done in sepia. Nick Carraway our narrator is piecing together the events covered in the novel by way of constructing a photo album.
There’s some interesting effects that occur here, the reader is watching Carraway as he constructs the very book they are reading/viewing.
Greenberg has a reputation for drawing interesting non-human depictions of characters and this is evident in the creation of a host of different creatures for the main characters in the book. Nick Carraway is an unassuming slug, Daisy is a puff headed fluff ball, Gatsby a seahorse, Tom Buchannan a brutish ogre and Jordan Baker a squid, to name a few. It’s interesting to map these depictions to certain character traits.
I haven’t read the original, but I do feel as though Greenberg has captured the era, and the zeitgeist well. The outrageously rich, the parties, the veneer and the shallowness. I am now curious to read F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I think The Great Gatsby would work as an excellent gateway into appreciating what can and is being done with graphic novels. I think fans or the original text will enjoy the visual interpretation and indeed will probably glean more from the adaptation than I would.
Clever and slightly bizarre, it fits the period well and was a pleasure to read.
March 3, 2012
This was one of my favourite books in 2010. I've read the original Gatsby a couple of times over the years, and liked it, but I could never quite remember the plot afterward. This version has really stuck in my head. The illustrations have just the right melancholy mood, and I loved how the characters are depicted - I'll always think of Daisy as a pretty, spindly necked puffball.
March 30, 2019
at this point i'm so sick of hearing about the great gatsby (despite enjoying it) that reading a graphic novel version was just... not fun.
September 23, 2020
i think i understand the great gatsby even less now
September 17, 2014
Initial thoughts: Fantastic graphic novel adaptation! The artwork was amazing and kooky, Nicki Greenberg is definitely talented. Possible review to come.
Review:
This review was originally posted on my blog, Paperbacks & Protagonists.
I absolutely loved this. This is the first graphic novel I've read, and hence the first graphic novel review I've written. So please forgive me if this is rubbish. This will only be short, as I think we all know the story of The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite classics. I don't know what I like about it exactly, but I found it to be a very enjoyable piece of literature.
The artwork in this is just phenomenal. And also humorous - instead or being drawn as humans, Greenberg has utilised animals and whacky creatures.
The writing is slightly simplified, but it still keeps the feel of originally being a 1925 piece of work.
As I said above, this review is completely pointless and not very review-y, but I just wanted to let you all know how much I loved this, and also to share it with the world as I haven't heard a lot about it. In fact, I probably would never have even picked this up if it wasn't for Ely at A Book So Fathomless. However, after reading this, I can definitely say that I want to read more graphic novels in the future.
Review:
This review was originally posted on my blog, Paperbacks & Protagonists.
I absolutely loved this. This is the first graphic novel I've read, and hence the first graphic novel review I've written. So please forgive me if this is rubbish. This will only be short, as I think we all know the story of The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite classics. I don't know what I like about it exactly, but I found it to be a very enjoyable piece of literature.
The artwork in this is just phenomenal. And also humorous - instead or being drawn as humans, Greenberg has utilised animals and whacky creatures.
The writing is slightly simplified, but it still keeps the feel of originally being a 1925 piece of work.
As I said above, this review is completely pointless and not very review-y, but I just wanted to let you all know how much I loved this, and also to share it with the world as I haven't heard a lot about it. In fact, I probably would never have even picked this up if it wasn't for Ely at A Book So Fathomless. However, after reading this, I can definitely say that I want to read more graphic novels in the future.
January 17, 2016
I love the Great Gatsby, it's one of my favourite novels. I was glad this adaptation was edited in a way that kept a lot of the original writing in.
It was fun to read, but I did grow tired of the sepia scrapbook theme. It would have been nice to have the scrapbook at the beginning then "gone in" to one of the photos and had full colour and full page spreads. I didn't like the under-the-sea characters much either, it didn't add anything really.
It was fun to read, but I did grow tired of the sepia scrapbook theme. It would have been nice to have the scrapbook at the beginning then "gone in" to one of the photos and had full colour and full page spreads. I didn't like the under-the-sea characters much either, it didn't add anything really.
July 11, 2024
This is the Gatsby story, illustrated. Excellent! The characters are fabulous and the story the same. It’s just so well-done.
I actually bought this book for my goddaughter some 10 or so years ago, and have always wanted my own copy.
I recently found it in a used-books bookstore, and thought “I’ll get this no matter the price” expecting it to be about $20 or so. Well: it was $40! But - as I’ve not seen it the time I gave it to my goddaughter - I bought it. It’s hard-cover, & I’m glad I did.
I actually bought this book for my goddaughter some 10 or so years ago, and have always wanted my own copy.
I recently found it in a used-books bookstore, and thought “I’ll get this no matter the price” expecting it to be about $20 or so. Well: it was $40! But - as I’ve not seen it the time I gave it to my goddaughter - I bought it. It’s hard-cover, & I’m glad I did.
March 28, 2019
3.5
Talita and I read this in a record-breaking 50 minutes. I hate the Great Gatsby and gave it a generous 3 stars and purely because of the copious amounts of nipples in this book combined with the fact that Nick is a slug, I will rate this book 3.5 stars. That is all.
Talita and I read this in a record-breaking 50 minutes. I hate the Great Gatsby and gave it a generous 3 stars and purely because of the copious amounts of nipples in this book combined with the fact that Nick is a slug, I will rate this book 3.5 stars. That is all.
October 1, 2018
An enjoyable, quick read after having read this many, many years ago in high school.
November 23, 2024
One of my favourite graphic novels which I reread from time to time.
September 29, 2025
it was quite boring for the first 3/4 but it was worth finishing.
October 28, 2025
a cutting-edge recreation of a modern classic.
January 1, 2012
Review from my blog, http://rosesandvellum.blogspot.com/
May contain a few spoilers for anyone who has never read the book:
When I was younger, The Great Gatsby was my favourite book. I kept it by my bedside and read it over and over again. I also loved the movie with Robert Redford. Several years ago, I was excited to find this graphic novel adaptation. I love graphic novels, and I am always interested to see how stories translate into different media: Novel, graphic novel, film. This book did not disappoint. I still love the original, of course, but I find myself able to love different media of the same story, as long as I do not try to compare them.
The characters are strange and surreal looking, and somehow their sad dignity despite their curious appearance strongly evokes the mood of melancholy of the book, and the cage of society in which they operate. When I read the part where Daisy says she hopes her little girl grows up stupid, I felt her pain at the cruel turns life had played on her, and her desire for her child to never experience this.
The strange creatures who the characters have become evoke their personalities. Silly and sad Daisy has a head that looks like a dandelion, brutish Tom is a large hairy shirtless creature, and his ill-fated mistress a grotesquely pitiable creature with one eye and many nipples. Emotionally cold Jordan is a pouty looking squid.
The layout of the pages is also lovely, it looks like old photographs with crimped edges in a photo album.
I can't help but wish that the new Great Gatsby movie was based on this graphic adaptation, as it is so sadly beautiful!
May contain a few spoilers for anyone who has never read the book:
When I was younger, The Great Gatsby was my favourite book. I kept it by my bedside and read it over and over again. I also loved the movie with Robert Redford. Several years ago, I was excited to find this graphic novel adaptation. I love graphic novels, and I am always interested to see how stories translate into different media: Novel, graphic novel, film. This book did not disappoint. I still love the original, of course, but I find myself able to love different media of the same story, as long as I do not try to compare them.
The characters are strange and surreal looking, and somehow their sad dignity despite their curious appearance strongly evokes the mood of melancholy of the book, and the cage of society in which they operate. When I read the part where Daisy says she hopes her little girl grows up stupid, I felt her pain at the cruel turns life had played on her, and her desire for her child to never experience this.
The strange creatures who the characters have become evoke their personalities. Silly and sad Daisy has a head that looks like a dandelion, brutish Tom is a large hairy shirtless creature, and his ill-fated mistress a grotesquely pitiable creature with one eye and many nipples. Emotionally cold Jordan is a pouty looking squid.
The layout of the pages is also lovely, it looks like old photographs with crimped edges in a photo album.
I can't help but wish that the new Great Gatsby movie was based on this graphic adaptation, as it is so sadly beautiful!
July 20, 2018
The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Adaptation by Nicki Greenberg of the Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an ambitious adaptation of the classic book. I think Nicki has done really well in this adaptation and made it more engaging and interesting for me to read compared to the actual Gatsby book. After seeing the movie I wasn't really a fan of this story but Nicki kept the same basis but adapted to be more interesting and better to read. I think it was the correct move by Nicki to make the characters in the story non-human. This really added a new vibe to the story. While the artwork at first glance is weird it somehow really fit in the story and I think did a better job in her novel than normal humans would have. Her novel being portrayed in the theme of old pictures helped set a different mood to the original story with the art style being unique while capturing the same essence as the original book. Personally, I think Nicki did an amazing job and should have adaptations of other movies. I would, however, recommend making the drawings a little bit clearer as in some cases it was harder to see the full image. Overall, I think Nicki did an amazing job with her choice of art style and looks of characters while still having the same basis as the classic book with a more different approach. Nicki really helped cast a new and interesting light on the novel by Scott Fitzgerald.
August 20, 2008
I was a bit sceptical about this book. The characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby are various sorts of creatures and monsters. Jay Gatsby is a seahorse.
Graphic adaptations can be a tricky business, but Nicki Greenberg's version of The Great Gatsby was done well. She distills F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing, and in doing so, highlights the genius of his craft. (On a side note, Greenberg did a great job with the letter. It's quite beautiful.)
I haven't read The Great Gatsby since high school, but when I got to the end of this version, it dawned on me why I didn't take to it back then. It's a heartbreaking story with a harsh lesson about how the socioeconomic world operates. It's a story of unrequited love and the depths and shallows of the human heart. After reading Nicki Greenberg's adaptation, I now realize I must reread the original.
Graphic adaptations can be a tricky business, but Nicki Greenberg's version of The Great Gatsby was done well. She distills F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing, and in doing so, highlights the genius of his craft. (On a side note, Greenberg did a great job with the letter. It's quite beautiful.)
I haven't read The Great Gatsby since high school, but when I got to the end of this version, it dawned on me why I didn't take to it back then. It's a heartbreaking story with a harsh lesson about how the socioeconomic world operates. It's a story of unrequited love and the depths and shallows of the human heart. After reading Nicki Greenberg's adaptation, I now realize I must reread the original.
December 6, 2008
I first heard about this book in an Age article last year. The very idea of a literary classic like The Great Gatsby being translated into a visual medium seemed to me very ambitious and exciting.
Sure enough, it doesn't disappoint! Greenberg has a lovely sensitivity in her illustrations, punctuated by unique hand lettering, exuding the romantic, nostalgic notions of the narrator. The photo album format as a premise for the storytelling is a clever one too. Despite the glaring fact that Greenberg's characters are exotic, and dare I say it, adorably cute-looking, creatures (minus Tom), they are really just literal reflections of their natures. Most importantly the narrative doesn't lose out in anyway. I'd recommend this over the film adaptations anyday.
I hope to see more comic books in Australia like this.
Sure enough, it doesn't disappoint! Greenberg has a lovely sensitivity in her illustrations, punctuated by unique hand lettering, exuding the romantic, nostalgic notions of the narrator. The photo album format as a premise for the storytelling is a clever one too. Despite the glaring fact that Greenberg's characters are exotic, and dare I say it, adorably cute-looking, creatures (minus Tom), they are really just literal reflections of their natures. Most importantly the narrative doesn't lose out in anyway. I'd recommend this over the film adaptations anyday.
I hope to see more comic books in Australia like this.
August 25, 2020
I feel like this shouldn't have worked so well and am at a loss to explain how and why it did the unexpected.
Reading the first couple of chapters I was completely distracted by the art and the fact that Nick was some sort of slug, Gatsby was a seahorse and Daisy was who-knows-what - but I got past that and before I knew it I was completely sucked in. I haven't read Gatsby for a while and the particulars had faded from my mind, but with this adaptation it all came rushing back. All of a sudden I am ready and keen to read the novel again and watch the movie with Leo in it which I've somehow never seen.
Not sure how this will sit with someone who doesn't already know the story, but it's an interesting way to present it to a new audience.
Reading the first couple of chapters I was completely distracted by the art and the fact that Nick was some sort of slug, Gatsby was a seahorse and Daisy was who-knows-what - but I got past that and before I knew it I was completely sucked in. I haven't read Gatsby for a while and the particulars had faded from my mind, but with this adaptation it all came rushing back. All of a sudden I am ready and keen to read the novel again and watch the movie with Leo in it which I've somehow never seen.
Not sure how this will sit with someone who doesn't already know the story, but it's an interesting way to present it to a new audience.
June 3, 2024
The first time I bought this book, it was as a birthday present for my goddaughter, Madeline. It was a paperback copy - I don't even know if she ever read it (though I assume she did.). I gave it to her (somewhat reluctantly) as I really wanted it for myself!
That was nearly 10 years ago or so... She'd have been 14.
So, when I found it this time - in a used bookshop - my immediate thought was, "I'm getting that! No matter what the price!"
Then I looked closer - it was a hardcover, and signed by the author - $40...
I put it back on the shelf.
Then, I picked it back up. Glanced through it... and, bought it.
It did NOT disappoint!
It tells the story, and is (I assume) the entire text. I read it slowly, and loved it! I love the pictures, the story, the whole thing.
That was nearly 10 years ago or so... She'd have been 14.
So, when I found it this time - in a used bookshop - my immediate thought was, "I'm getting that! No matter what the price!"
Then I looked closer - it was a hardcover, and signed by the author - $40...
I put it back on the shelf.
Then, I picked it back up. Glanced through it... and, bought it.
It did NOT disappoint!
It tells the story, and is (I assume) the entire text. I read it slowly, and loved it! I love the pictures, the story, the whole thing.
July 4, 2016
This is the book (or rather the novel is) the book chosen by my book group for this month. Unfortunately though I was unable to get into the novel. I must have tried at least 4 times. The prose just didn't click with me and I couldn't relate to Nick Carraway as a character.
I found this graphic novel version though and whilst the prose is that of Fitzgerald, (mostly) having it in a graphic novel form made it easier to read. And now I can say I've read it and have to admit that I cant see what the hype is.
As for the graphics themselves, Greenburg's drawings are very different and somewhat strange. I cant say much more about them than that really.
I found this graphic novel version though and whilst the prose is that of Fitzgerald, (mostly) having it in a graphic novel form made it easier to read. And now I can say I've read it and have to admit that I cant see what the hype is.
As for the graphics themselves, Greenburg's drawings are very different and somewhat strange. I cant say much more about them than that really.
December 7, 2023
I thought the illustrations were a really interesting interpretation and depiction of such a classic novel, but my dislike of the original novel unfortunately outweighed any positive feelings I had for the adaptation.
But wait, you say, if you didn’t like the original book, why read the graphic novel? To which I respond I thought maybe I’d like it better 🥲 I picked it up, saw how fun the illustrations were, and thought this might finally be my chance to understand people’s obsession with TGG. Then upon having to drag myself through Fitzgerald’s obnoxious writing again, I realized I was wrong.
Oh well, I gave it a go!
But wait, you say, if you didn’t like the original book, why read the graphic novel? To which I respond I thought maybe I’d like it better 🥲 I picked it up, saw how fun the illustrations were, and thought this might finally be my chance to understand people’s obsession with TGG. Then upon having to drag myself through Fitzgerald’s obnoxious writing again, I realized I was wrong.
Oh well, I gave it a go!
January 12, 2008
I had been curious about graphic novels for quite some time but like a hesitant spectator loitering on the edge of a busker’s crowd I had yet to take the plunge in to see what all the fuss was about. That is until I heard that a graphic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, had been released. I knew that I had to read it.
Read my review
Read my review
October 18, 2010
I have attempted to read the original of this before, but gave up pretty quickly. In the original the characters were too self absorbed and pompous for me to handle, so when I saw this at the library I decided it was an opportunity to find out what the story was without driving myself up the wall again.
For my whole review check out my blog post. I know that can be annoying, but it includes pictures and links.
For my whole review check out my blog post. I know that can be annoying, but it includes pictures and links.
January 26, 2012
This was ok... I wish I would have read the original Great Gatsby before reading this, but I did get the storyline. The illustrations however, were super weird. Greenberg turned everyone into weird sea-ish creatures that were super creepy. And I don't even know WHAT the colored folk were supposed to be but they were blobs, each with 2 hands coming out of their heads - and they acutally used those hands to serve food! Like I said uber-weird, but I still got the idea of the story. I still hope to read the actual novel someday.
December 14, 2016
Funny story. We were studying the Great Gatsby in literature class in high school and I forgot my book. I didn't want to get in trouble so I scrambled to try and find a copy of the book before class began. Luckily I found this version. I was incredibly relieved until I opened it and realised that it was a graphic novel! I told my teacher about what had happened and started panicking internally that I'd get in trouble. However, she simply laughed and had a flick through this graphic novel herself! So thank you graphic novel for saving me from a detention!
June 18, 2013
Gosh I loved this! I enjoyed it more than the original although having said that, this is a very faithful adaptation - the beautiful, quirky illustrations being the only exception. The way the author captures expressions and makes such wonderful use of sunsets and water to capture scenes - it's just stunning! She really taps into the central beauty of the story and compliments Fitzgerald's words to perfection. Lovely
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